After years of building and preparation, 2025 has finally seen multiple European rocket launches. The problem: they haven’t exactly been glowing successes.
In March, German small rocket developer Isar Aerospace got its first rocket off the ground — for less than 30 seconds — before it turned upside down and crashed nearby (the company was not expecting to reach orbit and considered it a success to obtain data). Meanwhile Franco-German spacetech The Exploration Company was able to get its space capsule to orbit in a launch last month — but lost contact before it crashed into the ocean.
Still, investors remain keen on spacetech — an area with high concerns around European sovereignty. Elon Musk’s SpaceX currently has a de facto monopoly on satellite launches, and VCs see space as a key domain for Europe’s commercial and military security.
But it’s not just rockets they want to back. VCs are eyeing companies building everything from Earth imaging and planetary exploration to hypersonic vehicles for space defence.
Sifted polled a few European investors to find out which spacetech startups they’re eyeing — with the catch that they couldn’t choose from their own portfolio. Responses have been edited for clarity.
Christian Noske, partner at NGP Capital
NGP Capital invests in early-stage B2B companies in enterprise software, spacetech, industrial tech, cybersecurity and infrastructure. The firm invests in Series A and above in Europe, the US, Israel and China. Its portfolio includes Franco-German spacetech The Exploration Company.
Constellr — Freiburg, Germany
Constellr launches microsatellites equipped with cryo‑cooled thermal‑infrared sensors to map Earth’s surface temperature with 30 metre resolution — empowering smarter agriculture, urban planning and climate resilience through near‑real‑time thermal intelligence. It recently successfully launched its ‘SkyBee-2’ satellite into space.
NewOrbit — Reading, UK
The UK-based space startup is taking satellites lower than ever (which can operate at an altitude of as low as 180km). NewOrbit’s air‑breathing ion thrusters let microsatellites operate sustainably in ultra‑low Earth orbit. The result is ultra‑sharp imagery (0.2 metres), faster data, debris‑free orbits and global direct‑to‑phone broadband from the lowest frontier.
Gama Space — Paris
The startup is working to make deep‑space travel accessible with low‑cost, scalable solar‑sail spacecraft — harnessing sunlight’s photon pressure to launch nimble missions across the solar system and unlocking new possibilities in planetary exploration with fuel‑free propulsion.
Sandra Budimir, general partner at Expansion Ventures
Expansion Ventures invests from pre-seed to Series B, backing startups in the sustainable aerospace, air mobility and defence and dual use sectors. Its portfolio includes French small rocket launcher Latitude and Finnish satellite startup ReOrbit.
Seacras — Zagreb
This Croatian startup is using satellite imagery and AI to monitor coastal water quality in real time. Its platform helps detect pollution, assess environmental risks and support sustainable decision-making for sectors like tourism, aquaculture and maritime transport. With growing global concern over ocean health and climate resilience, I believe Seacras could be a key player.
Bioorbit — London
Dr. Katie King is the founder of Bioorbit, a UK-based startup building a pharmaceutical “microgravity factory” with the goal of transforming cancer treatment. By leveraging space conditions to crystallise monoclonal antibodies, Bioorbit aims to convert IV-administered therapies into an injectable form, making treatments more accessible, efficient and suitable for at-home care — a potential game-changer for patient quality of life.
Metaplanet — Paris
Metaplanet is building an AI-powered digital twin of Earth — transforming satellite data into real-time, interactive insights for industries from climate to urban planning. The French startup aims to make Earth observation as intuitive as a Google search and redefine how we understand and interact with our planet.
Adam Niewinski, cofounder and general partner at OTB Ventures
OTB Ventures is a CEE-focused VC firm with over $350m in assets under management. It is focused on spacetech, enterprise AI and data, physical AI and cybersecurity. Its portfolio includes spacetech companies like Iceye, HydroSat and Atmos.
OQ Technology — Luxembourg
Think of OQ as turning every low-orbit nanosatellite into a roaming cell tower. Instead of forcing customers to buy exotic hardware, its network speaks the same 5G/NB-IoT language already embedded in off-the-shelf sensors and phones. The result is uninterrupted cell coverage: if you can see the sky, you’re online — whether you’re tracking elephants in the Okavango or pipelines in the Arctic. In a world still blanketed by coverage of dead-zones, that’s a game-changer for things such as logistics, energy and climate monitoring.
Hypersonica — Munich
The roughly two-year-old Bavarian startup is designing a reusable vehicle that can sprint past Mach 5 [five times the speed of sound], drop a microsatellite (or a defence payload) into orbit and glide home for another flight. Mastering that kind of hypersonic choreography could give Europe its own rapid-response launch and testbed capability — something currently bought from the US or left to paper studies. If it works, it could rewrite both Europe’s tech credibility and its security posture.
Joram Voelklein, founding partner at Alpine Space Ventures
Alpine Space Ventures is a Munich-based VC firm investing in early-stage spacetech startups. Its portfolio includes Reflex Aerospace and Morpheus Space.
LiveEO — Berlin
The full utilisation of Earth observation data by industry and government represents a massive opportunity for value creation — if done right. LiveEO’s solution lowers the barriers to accessing and utilising geospatial data for enterprise customers [like railway or consumer goods companies].
Gate Space — Vienna and San Francisco
As orbits become more congested and operational complexity increases, addressing in-space mobility is becoming an increasingly relevant challenge — one that Gate Space is working to solve. We appreciate Gate Space’s hardware-rich approach and the fact that it is rapidly prototyping countless engine versions to optimise its designs.
(Voelklein also named Constellr as a startup to watch.)
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/spacetech-startups-watch-vc-2025/
